It is reported that those who like consuming curry, a known spice mixture that originates from Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian and other South East Asian culinary traditions, can have lower chances to develop such common health condition linked to aging as dementia. According to the findings of a group of Swedish experts of Linkoping University, adding some curry to our diet as much as once or twice a week can considerably lower our chances to suffer from dementia later on our life. The effects are attributed to high content of cucrumin in turmeric, one of the main constituents of curry.

Swedish experts carried out a series of scientific experiments and tested potential health benefits of curcumin on fruit flies. To their great surprise, it turned out that those flies which were receiving some curcumin of a continuous basis had up to 75 per cent longer lifespan compared to those flies which were not receiving curcumin treatment. These findings were published in February issues of the journal PLoS One and are considered a successful scientific explanation of the fact that such health conditions as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are very much rare in today’s South East and neighboring Asian societies.

The conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are linked to the formations of proteins in human brain. Known as amyloid plaques, these protein build-ups damage the connections between the brain and other body systems. Swedish scientists underline that curcumin could not dissolve amyloid plaque formations, however played a positive role in speeding up building up nerve fibers. This property of curcumin is stipulated by its ability to reduce the formation of oligomers, the precursor forms of the nerves fibers which are actually harmful the nerve cells.

Prof Per Hammarstrom, one of the study leaders, said: “We now see small molecules in an animal model can influence the amyloid form. To our knowledge the encapsulation of oligomers is a new and exciting treatment strategy.” There are actually a number of theories regarding the mechanisms of how oligomers cause degenerative processes in brain. One of those, for example, suggests that oligomers get trapped in nerve fibers and distort impulse signals coming from brain. As result, impulse signals get much slower, and it seems that curcumin can have something to do with fixing up these processes. Other health benefits of curcumin include improved function of digestive system, lowered risks of cardiovascular problems like heart attack or thrombosis, as well as quite very good proeprties of curcumin as a natural painkiller.